Machine for cutting soles.



E. L. PATTEN.

MACHINE FOR CU'TTINGSOLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. 1917.

Patented June 25, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR. Ermesfflffim;

RNEY.

E. L. PATTEN.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING SOLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. 1917.

Patented June 25, mm

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR. TWES f .Z QJ L;

E. L. PATTEN.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING SOLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19, 1917.

Patented June 25, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

IN VEN T OR. Erma fl .f%m; BY

l l It ERNEST L. PATTEN, 01F MADDEN, MACHUSETTS.

' MACHINE FUR CUTTING SOLES.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented June as, rare.

a lication filed rem-nar 1a, 1917. Serial no. 149,412.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, ERNns'r 1L. PATTEN, a resident of the city ofMaiden, in. the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forCutting Soles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that type of form cutting machines in which aknife is caused to traverse a sheet of rubber or the like for cuttingsoles therefrom, and .in which the knife-carrying instrumentalities aremoved in an oblong path, while the knife itself is controlled by aleader, as set forth in my U. S. Patent 1,144,429, issued June 29, 1915.

.My present invention has for its objects, first, to give to theknife-carrying "instrumentalities a bodily motion of translation as awhole, in addition .to a similar motion "of the leader; second, toprovide an im' proved means for adjusting the travel of theinstrumentalities and leader; third, to

devise improved means whereby the work supporting table maybe keptentirely stationary, while the working parts are raised did lid

for the insertion of the sheets of rubber or leather; and to efiectother improvements in details of construction hereinafter set forth..-

In the drawings forming part. of this specification, Figure 1 isanelevation of a machine embodying my improvements,

parts being broken away and in section.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation on alarger scale of the knife carrying means. Fig. 4 is an elevation of thesame from a difi'erent point of view, parts being in section. Fig. 5 isa perspective view of a group of allied parts. Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview of another group of allied parts. Fig, '7 is a plan view of theleader locking device. Fig. 8 is a cross section of the same.

The reference. numeral 1 designates the machine table upon which thesheet material to be out is laid; 2 is the knife by which the materialis cut; and 3 is the form about whose periphery the knife is made totravel, the form being rigidly supported above the table by a stem 4dependmgr from a suitable frame-member 5.

he knife 2 is held by a carrier-arm 6 pivotally supportedat the endopposite the knife on a vertical bolt 7 the carrier-arm beingresiliently pressed against the stop 9 by a helical spring 10 whosetorsional effect thereon is adjusted-by the knurled annulus 11 and setscrew 12, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. An anti-friction roll 13carried by the arm 6 and bearing against the under surface of the plate14, takes the upward strain given to the knife during its cuttingaction, and permits it to swing freely about the curves of the form 3.

The plate 14 is rigid with a spindle 15 turning in-bearings 17, 19, thelatter being connected with a head slidably supported on ways 21. Theupper part of the head 20 is provided with spaced antifriction rolls 22movable in ways 23; the ways 21, 23 being united by posts 24. The ways23 are formed with a faced plate 25"united by bolts 26 with an upperplate 27, which plates are slidable along the upper and under surfacesof the head 29, and the bolts are given anti-friction rolls '30 fittingthe slot 3-1 in the head 29. An anti-friction roll 32 carried by theupper way membr 23 serves to withstand the lateral pressure given by theknife 2. Anti-friction rolls 33, 34 and 35, 36 bearing against thevertical flange 37 of the leader 39 further guide the knife in itstravel.

For propelling the knife frame, com: posed of above recited parts, withits guide rolls traveling in the slot 31, sprocket chain 40 passingabout sprocket wheels 41, 42 is connected to the upper plate 27 by alink 43. The sprocket wheel 42 is rotated by bevel gears 44, 45.

The head 29, with its bonnet 46, is slidably supported by the frame 7 9to be moved to the two extremes indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, andthe means for such actuation comprises a shaft 47 rotated by spiralgears 49, 50 (Fig.2), a face plate 51 (Fig. 5), a crank pin 52 whosehead 53 is slidable in the dovetail roove 54 in the face plate, a block55 on t e crank pin vertically slidable in the slot 56 of the pitman 57.

For adjusting the throw of the crank in 52, the face plate 51 has a rack59 'astened thereto, with which meshes a pinion 60 mounted on a sleeveturning on the crank pin and fastened in the hub of the knurled wheel61. The outer end of'the crank pin passes through a friction plate 62and has a cam 63 pivoted thereon by a pin 64. By forcibly turning thewheel 61, the pinion 60 causes the crank pin to travel along the groove54 until it reaches the desired throw, and then the cam 63 is turneddown to press the friction plate 62 against the flanged rim of the wheel61 hard enough to lock the latter against further movement.

To maintain the motion of the bevel gear 45, it is held against itsassociated gear 44 by havin its shaft 65 supported in bearings 66, 6carried by the head 29, the shaft being suitably held againstlongitudinal displacement in said bearings. In alinement with the shaft65 is a shaft 69 connected therewith by flexible couplings 70 (Fig. 1)and squared or otherwise made to be slid able in but to turn with atubular shaft 71 which receives its power through a sprocket chain 72.Consequently, a continu 1, 4 and 7) is slidably supported by a-carrier76 slidable in Ways 77 held by the depending frame members 79 (Fig. 2).This carrier is moved by means of a pitman 80, and adjustable crank pin81 practically identical with those above described for the head 29; theshaft 82 carrying the face plate 83 which holds the crank pin 81, beingprovided with a gear 84 meshin with the gear 50.

For enabling t e table 1 to be absolutely stationary and yet to permitthe sheet material M to be readily introduced thereon beneath the form 3and knife 2, I have devised means for suitably raising and lowering theentire operating mechanism and the frame members 85, 79 and 5 carryingthe mechanism, without interfering with the opera tions. To this end,the table supporting means 86 is formed with vertical ways 87 (Figs. 1and 2) in which the frame member is slidable. Springs 89 resilientlysupport the frame members and operating mechanism in a normally elevatedposition to permit the easy introduction of the material M upon thetable, and suitably actuated depressing. means acting through a link 90serves to depress the mechanism. at the proper time and to the desiredpoint for pressing the form 3 upon the material to be operated upon.

Inasmuch as the sprocket chain 72 connects with a suitable sprocketwheel 100 on a shaft 101 (Fig. 2) carried by the fixed framework 86,while the sprocket wheel engaged by the upper part of said chain iscarried on the vertically movable frame 85, it is necessary to provide ameans for periodically taking up the slack in the chain during theframes descent. For this purpose, an idler 102 is swung against theinner face of the sprocket chain by a bell-crank lever 103 pivotallysupported at 104 and having its arm 105 met by the end of a stud 106projecting from the frame member, the pivot 104 being supported by theframe 86. Consequently, as the frame members 85, 79, 5 and the mechanismsupported thereby, begin to descend, the stud 106 swings the idler 102outward, carrying with it the chain 72, and so takes up the slack whichwould otherwise occur therein.

Since there must be a frequent change in leaders 39 in order to enablethe machine to out different sizes of shoe forms, it is essential thatthe locking means by which each leader is held in place shall be bothsure in its grip, easy to manipulate, and in no way an obstruction'tothe sheet rubber or other material being cut up. To this end, eachside-member 76 of the leader carrier has an overhang 107 beneath whichthe corresponding edge of the leader is to fit, and a lug 109 upon whichthe said edge is supported, the edge being given a notch 110 so that theleader can be pushed up with the notch passing the lug and then be moveddirectly rear ward until the latter comes beneath the unbroken edge andsupports the same.

The leader is fastened in place by the locking block 111 slidable in theslot 112 in the carrier 76, and actuated by a lever 113 pivoted at 114and en aging a pin 115 rising from the block. The end of the block 111being brought in front of the shoulder 116 of the leader, the latter islocked against withdrawal; and the block and lever are held in thisposition by a spring latch 117 adapted to enga e the corner of thecarrier, as shown in Fig. I prefer to provide the end of the block 111with lips 119,120 adapted to come above and below the surfaces of thecarrier below the slot and thereby to support the end of the blockthereat, the other end of the block coming between the leaves of theways 77. The lower lip 120 is constructed to come beneath the edge ofthe shoulder 116 and so to support the leader thereat.

The employment of the anti-friction rolls 13 and 32, is very important,the roll 13 taking the pressure of the knife while in operation andpermitting the free swing of the arm 6 as the knife follows thesinuosities of the leader flange 37;. and the roll 32 taking the strainof the lateral pressure against the entire knife carrying mechanism.

By having the leader frame 76 and the head 29 both made movablesynchronously with thetravel of the knife frame as propelled by thechain 10, and such movements made adjustable both in extent anddirection, the same machine is enabled to be used for cutting all sizesof soles. In actual practice, l find it desirable to adjust the throw ofthe leader carrier with every change in size of sole to be cut; but theadjustment of the reciprocation of the head 29 needs to be varied butthree or four times. The crank pin 52 is set in alinement with the shaft17, and hence with a zero-throw, when Womens sizes of soles are to becut; for childrens and misses soles, the crank pin is set to give aminus throw,that is, to move the head toward the left (as viewed inFig. 1) when the knife-carrieris' movingv toward the right, and therebto diminish the total movement of the kni e.

For mens sizes of soles, the crank pin is adjusted to add its throw tothat of the chain, instead of decreasing it as in childrens sizes.

In each case, the leader-carrier must have its throw correspondinglyvaried, and in addition, with each change in the sizes of childrenssoles, with each change in sizes of ladies soles, and with each changeis sizes of mens soles, the leader carrier must be adjusted.

My improvement whereby the entire operating machinery and its supportingframe are made to rise for permitting the sheet rubber to be introducedupon the work table beneath the form 3, is also an important one, sinceotherwise to arrange for the ascent and descent of the form will requirea complication of parts which not only adds materially to the expense ofthe machine, but to the dimensions of it as well.

My leader locking means above referred to is of considerable importance,not alone because of its ease and certainty of operation, but because itdoes. not unduly rise above the surface of the leader and intercarryingdirection of the major axis of the path, for lengthening and shorteningthe path of the knife. 1

2. A sole cutting machine comprising a work table, a knife, means formoving the knife in an oblong path, a leader controlling the path of theknife, and adjustable means for periodically shiftin the knife movingmeans in the direction 0 its major axis.

3. A sole cutting machine comprising a work table, a knife, means formoving the knife in an oblong path, a leader controlling the path of theknife, adjustable means for periodically shifting the knife movingmeans, and adjustable means for shifting the leader periodically.

4. A sole-cutting machine comprising a work table, a knife, means formoving the knife in an oblong path, and means for pcriodically shiftingthe knife moving means bodily, both said means moving in synchronism,and the second named means being capable of adjustment both in degree ofmovement and in direction.

5.A sole cutting machine comprising a work table, a knife, means formoving the knife in an oblong path and for controlling the course of theknife, and means for synchronously shifting said means comprising ashaft and face plate, the face plate having a dovetail groovediametrically therein, a dovetail block slidable in said groove, a crankpin projecting from said blockparallel with said shaft, a pinion turningon said pin, a rack carried by the face plate in mesh with said pinion,a pitman connected with said pin and said means, a hand wheel on saidpin adapted for forcibly rotating said pinion, a friction plate restingagainst a face of said wheel, and a cam carried by the outer extremityof said pin and disposed for pressing said friction plate against theface of said wheel and thereby locking the pinion and hence the crankpin at any desired point of adjustment.

6. A sole cutting machine comprising a fixed work table provided withvertical ways at one end, a frame slidable in said ways, a knife, meansfor moving the knife in an oblong path, a leader controllin said path,and a form for guiding the knif ing the Work upon the table, andmechanism for actuating the knife moving means, said. knife movingmeans, leader, form and mechanism being supported by and rising andfalling with said frame.

7. A sole cutting machine comprising a fixed work table having verticalways, a frame slidable in said Ways, a knife, means for moving the knifein an oblong path, said means including a shaft and sprocket wheel, saidknife and knife moving means, shaft and sprocket Wheel being supportedby and. rising and falling with said frame, a power driven sprocket"Wheel having stationary bearings below said frame, a sprocket chainjoining said sprocket wheels, an idler resting against said chain, abell-crank lever carrying said idler and having a stationary pivot, anda projection from said frame adapted to engage said bell-crank lever andto cause its idler to flex said chain and thereby take up the slacktherein as said frame descends, said frame having means for forciblyreciprocating it.

8. A sole cutting machine comprising a knife and knife operatingmechanism, a

e and hold I leader controlling the knife, and a carrier supporting theleader, the leader having a notch in each of two opposing side edges,and the carrier having at each of said sides 5 of the carrier anoverhung flange and an underhung lug, whereby the leader can be pressedup against the overhung flanges and thence backward to present itsunbroken edges above said lugs.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing 10 invention, I have hereuntoset my hand this 16th day of February, 1917.

ERNEST L. PATTEN.

